The Portland Trail Blazers gave up another big first-half lead and lost big to the Golden State Warriors. Down 0-3, what can we take away from their loss?
The Portland Trail Blazers blew another big lead Saturday night en route to a 110-99 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. Portland now trails 0-3 in the series with Game 4 set for Monday at the Moda Center.
Like Game 2, the Portland Trail Blazers got out to a dominant start. This time, they jumped out to a 66-53 halftime lead. This margin was bolstered by a 37-point second quarter where their lead ballooned to as large as 18 points.
Also like Game 2, the tables would turn in favor of the Warriors in the second half. GSW outscored Portland 57-33 in the final two periods. They took an 80-79 lead with 44 seconds remaining in the third and never gave it back. The Warriors led by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter before settling on the final margin.
CJ McCollum paced Portland with 23 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals despite shooting 7-of-20 from the field. Damian Lillard followed up with 19 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals despite committing five turnovers and shooting 5-of-18 from the field. Meyers Leonard added 16 points while Evan Turner chipped in 12.
Stephen Curry led the charge for Golden State with 36 points and six rebounds. He matches his Game 1 scoring total and notches his fourth consecutive 30+ point game. However, Draymond Green was truly their engine, picking up a triple-double of 20 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists along with four steals. Klay Thompson added 19 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks.
Game 3 was one of the Portland Trail Blazers’ more dispiriting efforts over the course of this playoff run. Here are three things we can take away from this loss.